Two northern health centres temporarily closed due to staffing issues

Source: Northern Health Region/Facebook

WINNIPEG -

Two health centres in the Northern Health Region have closed temporarily with the main reason for the closures being "persistent staffing issues."

In a statement on Tuesday, the health region said the Gillam Hospital will be closed until the morning of Jan. 5, 2022, noting appointments with Public Health will continue.

"The Primary Care Clinic will be open for appointments on December 30 and 31," the health region said.

If there is a health emergency, people are being told to call 204-652-2911 and for non-emergency issues people should call Health Links.

For all other issues people are asked to call the Thompson General Hospital at 204-677-2381.

"Every effort is being made to open earlier. Your understanding is appreciated."

The second closure was announced on Monday. The Leaf Rapids Health Centre will be shut down until Jan. 10, 2022.

If there are emergencies in that area, people are told to call 911 and all other care will be provided through Lynn Lake and Thompson.

Gillam Mayor Dwayne Forman said the community has been dealing with staffing issues for quite some time.

"Since this new management structure came in I feel like it has gotten worse and worse," said Forman. "(The Northern Health Region) brought in a new management structure system that encompassed three communities, Lynn Lake, Leaf Rapids and Gillam."

He said mayors in the northern communities called on the health region to not change the management system, which would mean keeping a manager for each area, but it was put in place anyway.

"They said they were going to give it a try and after a year they were going to reassess it. It's been well over a year and they are still pushing with the system and now, two out of the three communities are now shut down."

Forman said he thinks the management plan was a "major error" and he is hoping a solution is developed.

He added he thinks COVID-19 is just being used as an "excuse" and that they actually need to get down to the root of the problem.

"This is just unacceptable … we need our hospital up here. We're three hours away from the nearest hospital being in Thompson and that's just unacceptable. If anyone has a heart attack up here, I don't see how we are going to be treated in time."

CTV News has reached out to the Northern Health Region for more details.